Can-feeding machine



F. VAUGHAN. CAN FEEDING MACHINE.

APPL ICATION FILED OCT. 29. 1920.

1,402,121 Patented J an. 3, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. a I wsr" F. VAUGHAN.

CAN FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 29. 1920.

Patented Jan. 3,1922...

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Patented Jan. 3, 1922;

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Qwuamtoz dttozmuaq UNl'l'EB STAE'EE FRANK VAUGHAN, OF HONOLULU,TERRITORY 0F HAVTAII, ASSIGNOR T0 LIBBY, MCNEIL & LIBBY, OF HONOLULU,LIHIITED, A CORPORATION OF HAWAII.

CAN-FEEDING: MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

Application filed October 29, 1920. Serial No. 420,395.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, FRANK VAUGHAN, a citizen or" the United States,residing at Honolulu, in the county of Honolulu and Territory 01"-Hawaii, have invented a new and useful Can-Feeding Machine, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an efficient machine forrapidly and automatically feeding cans to the intake of a labellingmachine; and to provide the novel combination and arrangement 01 partsdescribed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Fig. lis a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a top plan; Fig. 3 is arear elevation; and Fig. 4: is an enlarged detail elevational view.

Like numerals designate like parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I provide hoppers A and B. Thehopper A is made up of the table 2 and the cover 4; and hopper B is maceup of the table 1 and the cover 3; together with the guiding strips 19forming the sides of each of the hoppers, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Thecans D are fed through the hoppers to a runway 5 formed of spaced angleiron members. This runway is mounted on suitable supports stands 6.Attached to one end or" the runway 5 are bearings 8 in which is mounteda shaft 7, carrying the sprocket wheel 9 on which is mounted the endlesssprocket chain 10 which is provided with spaced lugs that projectoutwardly and engage successive cans to convey them along the runwaytoward the end C of the machine which is connected with the intake of alabelling machine to which this machine feeds the cans. The chain 10 isrun over an idler pinion 16 and over the lar e sprocket whee 13 which ismounted on a shaft 11, on which shaft is also mounted the drive wheel Liwhich is driven by a suitable power belt 15 from any suitable source orpower. As illustrated in 1 I provide an outwardly inclined overflowrunway 11, adjacent to the delivery end C or" the machine to take careof cans when they are fed too fast for the labelling machine to handle.Overflow runway 17 consists of strips of angle iron similar to thoseused in the main runway 5, and is arranged on an incline so that thecans accumulated in it will roll back into the main runway 5 by gravity.

The driving pulley 15 which is operated by outside power such as anelectric motor or overhead shaiting drives the main sprocket wheel 13and thus the endless chain 10 which engages the cans and moves themalong the runway 5 from the mouth of the hoppers to the delivery end Cof the machine. The endless chain may or may not have lugs, and a canvasor leather belting may be substituted if preferred for the chain. Adozen or more cans are fed at one feeding into each hopper directly fromthe tables 1 and 2. Members 1 and 2 are made large enough to receive twodozen or more cans. The overflow cans which collect on overflow runway1'? are autoi'natically "fed back on runway 5 as the lower layer of thecans moves toward the labelling machine. The endless chain 10 is drivenat the same speed as the corresponding mechanism in the labellingmachine, to the receiving end of which the cans are carried, asindicated by the arrow in the drawings.

What I claim is: I

1. in a can feeding machine, the combination of a runway comprisingspaced angle irons, an endless chain extending longitudinally or" themiddle of the runway, means for continuously operating said chain in thedesired direction, means for feeding cans into the runway, and anoverflow runway at one end of the main runway for temporarily holdingoverflow cans.

2. In a can feeding machine, the combination of an elevated runway, anendless traveling member extending longitudinally of the runway andadapted to engage cans and convey them along the runway, an inclinedoverflow runway positioned at one end of the main runway and adapted toreceive overflow cans and to return them to the main runway by gravity.

3. In a can feeding machine, the combination of a runway of suitablesize to receive a line of cans, spaced hoppers of suitable size'to holda considerable number of cans and to permit of feeding same rapidly tothe runway, endless traveling means for engaging the cans in the runwayand conveying them from the receiving to the delivering end of therunway, and an overflow runway, said overflow runway being disposedabove and at an inclination to the-main runway, whereby cans whichcollect on the overflow runway are automatically returned by gravity tothe main runway.

FRANK VAUGHAN.

